Castle - Season 6 Discussion & Spoilers

I watched the episode. It was really funny in the mystery... but then the whole thing with Alexis was rather cold. The episode didn't end the usual way. Maybe this whole Pi thing maybe the new 'season arc' that the writers are using in order to replace the Castle/Beckett courtship.

An ancient crypt in NYC!
Just how ancient can that be? 200 or so years? We're never as impressive as Europe or the Middle East with those things.

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Well, the coins were allegedly minted under George Washington, so probably about 230-plus years.

The hidden-treasure stuff was kind of silly, and the cross-promotion for Disney's National Treasure franchise was annoying, but what I really found implausible here was the swordfighting. It's hard to believe that an actor trained in stage swordfighting, which is carefully choreographed and stylized, could get into a fight with someone who thought he was really fighting for his life without at least one of them realizing that they weren't on the same page. Is it even possible to do swordfighting improv?

It was fun for what it was, but two of these silly episodes in a row is enough. I hope they get into some darker cases during sweeps month. I like how Alexis didn't just give in at the end, it's nice to see that she's not just Daddy's little girl anymore. I'm with Castle though on what a jackass Pi is, but I guess he is good for Alexis' character growth.

Speaking as a guy who does improv as a second career, yes. But only if both parties are in on it. And, well, Nathan Fillion IS a trained and awesome improvisor, at the least. :P

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Yes, but Castle thought he was fighting for real. In a joint improv performance, both participants are communicating through subtle cues, based on their mutual experience with the conventions of the art. They're working with each other, like a dance, in order to create the appearance that they're fighting against each other. So if one participant were trying to coordinate with a fellow performer and the other participant were genuinely trying to fight off the other guy, they just wouldn't mesh and it would be obvious to the actor pretty quickly that the other guy wasn't just playing.

Yes, I agree. I suppose however that if the actor (his character that is) was REALLY good, he could conceivably have been able to make the opponents believe that they were actually fighting him, or close enough to maintain an air of legitimacy. They were paying $2500 a pop just to play after all, so while it stretches believability a lot (but no more than par for the show's wackier episodes), I can believe that the actor was just really, really good, and also that the (self?) trained Castle would just find himself wrapped up in whatever his brain has come up with, as has happened before.

But the point is, why wouldn't the actor have known that Castle wasn't playing? I mean, if you think you're doing a stage-choreographed fistfight with someone and he socks you in the gut for real, that's gonna tell you it's not a performance to him, and you're going to have a very good incentive to try to bring a halt to the proceedings as quickly as possible. As soon as the guy realized that Castle wasn't stage-fighting, he should've called a time-out and dropped the act for his own protection.

This did feel like a self-conscious caricature of a Castle episode, to the point of actually having Castle say "I'm the one who makes up crazy theories."

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I've noticed over the years that a lot of shows end up being sort of self-parodies if they're on the air long enough. Miami Vice, the Odd Couple... The producers (or whoever) need to reign them in at some point to get them back on track to their original concept (though that rarely happens)

But the point is, why wouldn't the actor have known that Castle wasn't playing? I mean, if you think you're doing a stage-choreographed fistfight with someone and he socks you in the gut for real, that's gonna tell you it's not a performance to him, and you're going to have a very good incentive to try to bring a halt to the proceedings as quickly as possible. As soon as the guy realized that Castle wasn't stage-fighting, he should've called a time-out and dropped the act for his own protection.

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I'm not saying the actor didn't realize it. I'm just positing that he could have been THAT good and believed he was not at all in any danger from an enlightened amateur such as Rick Castle, whose stage combat skills were rarely seen outside play-fencing with Alexis (or whatever he couldn't get away with while his mum was around teaching). Castle wasn't out to KILL the actor anyway, and the latter would be playing with that in mind. The fake guardian would have played it up as well as he could and then LET Castle "win", as per the script. I've actually done this sort of fake combat thing as part of a similar brand of treasure-hunting gig, though admittedly we fought with pool noodles.

Again, I know it's stretching it, but no more than some of the quirkier episodes of the show...

^Yeah, but I'm sure the guy wouldn't have wanted to risk actual injury either. I mean, he's a struggling actor. What are the odds he has good health insurance? Even if he does, an injury could mean days off work and a loss of income -- maybe even a permanent risk to his career if his face were damaged.

Forget the sword fight. Was I the only one who kinda sympathized with the killer?

SPOILERS . . .. ..

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I mean, seriously, just one of those thousands of coins would solved the cousin's financial problems and paid for his elderly mother's care, but Susannah insisted that the whole treasure trove be donated to a museum instead? She couldn't spare one coin to make sure her only family was set financially and her aunt got the care she needed?

Forget the sword fight. Was I the only one who kinda sympathized with the killer?

SPOILERS . . .. ..

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I mean, seriously, just one of those thousands of coins would solved the cousin's financial problems and paid for his elderly mother's care, but Susannah insisted that the whole treasure trove be donated to a museum instead? She couldn't spare one coin to make sure her only family was set financially and her aunt got the care she needed?

I'm not saying she had it coming, but . . . .

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Yep, I felt the same way. That was really selfish of her not to offer to share a little, especially given his mother's medical situation and that he's as entitled to make decisions about what to do with the fortune as she is (though in reality, I think the government would come in to claim the fortune).

(though in reality, I think the government would come in to claim the fortune).

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... or maybe the church on whose property the treasure was found would claim it. Not sure how the legalities of possession would work in this case. If you find treasure on someone else's property, can you keep it, or does it belong to the property owner? I'd guess the property owner!